CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC

Key Points

• UBS AM increased its stake in CME Group Inc. by 11.9% in Q1, owning 2,727,809 shares, valued at approximately $723.66 million.
• Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares for $270.53 each, increasing his ownership, while insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares, reducing his stake by 40.55%.
• CME Group reported quarterly earnings that exceeded expectations, with $2.96 EPS against an expected $2.91, and announced a dividend of $1.25 per share to be paid on September 25th.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,727,809 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 290,147 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned 0.76% of CME Group worth $723,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 122.2% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 612.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CME. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group lowered their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $260.60.

CME Group Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded down $0.08 on Friday, hitting $262.30. 1,537,684 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,837,493. The firm's 50-day moving average is $273.60 and its 200 day moving average is $270.29. The company has a market capitalization of $94.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.38 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 256 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.